Buffalo stymies Montreal

J.P. Dumont and Adam Mair both scored in the second period to lift the Sabres to a 2-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens last night in Buffalo. Martin Biron made 24 saves for the Sabres, who climbed within six points of the New York Islanders for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Each team has six games remaining.

The Sabres have points in seven of eight games (4-1-0-3). Montreal lost in regulation for just the second time in 15 games (11-2-1-1).

Michael Ryder scored for Montreal, which could've clinched a playoff spot by earning one point. The Canadiens are in seventh place in the East, two points behind New Jersey.

Dumont gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 6:07 of the second period with his 20th goal. After corralling a pass from Daniel Briere in the left circle, Dumont's hard wrist shot went into the top right corner.

Less than four minutes later, Mair made it 2-0 with his sixth goal. Standing in front of the Montreal net, Mair blocked defenseman Jeff Jillson's shot from the right point. The puck dropped right onto Mair's stick, and he quickly turned around and fired a shot that beat Mathieu Garon along the ice.

Ryder broke the shutout bid with his 24th goal at 14:38 of the third, beating Biron with a backhander from the left circle.

Stars 4, Oilers 3 -- Bill Guerin scored 3:11 into overtime to lift visiting Dallas to a come-from-behind victory over Edmonton, clinching a playoff spot for the Stars. Guerin converted Valeri Bure's centering pass for his 33d goal, scored from point-blank range after Brenden Morrow scored with less than a minute left in regulation to send the game to overtime.

With goalie Marty Turco on the bench for an extra attacker, Morrow cashed in Richard Matvichuk's rebound at 19:06.

Fernando Pisani gave the Oilers a 3-2 lead with his second of the night with 6:59 left in regulation.

Blue Jackets 2, Wild 0 -- Rick Nash scored his 39th goal and Marc Denis stopped 20 shots to lead host Columbus over Minnesota. Nash moved into a tie with Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk for the NHL goal lead.

Flames 4, Coyotes 0 -- Jarome Iginla scored his 39th goal, Roman Turek earned his second straight shutout, and visiting Calgary snapped a two-game skid by beating Phoenix. Iginla, who also had an assist, finished the night tied with Kovalchuk and Columbus's Rick Nash for the NHL lead in goals.

Canucks 1, Kings 0 -- Matt Cooke scored midway through the first period and Dan Cloutier stopped 15 shots in Vancouver's victory over visiting Los Angeles. Luc Robitaille had a great chance to tie it with the goaltender pulled and 40 seconds left, but his shot from the slot bounced off the skate of Canucks center Artem Chubarov at the top of the crease, and Vancouver cleared the zone.

Thrashers 3, Capitals 2 -- Daniel Tjarnqvist scored on a 55-foot shot with 7:24 left as host Atlanta kept alive its slim playoff hopes. Kari Lehtonen won his second straight start since getting called up from the minors, stopping 23 shots. Matthew Yeats lost his first NHL start for the Capitals.